Roland Garros – Men’s Final Sunday Preview

Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet on Sunday for an historic French Open final.

Sixteen Grand Slam titles winner, Roger Federer reaffirmed the fact that he saves the best for Majors. The Swiss Maestro snapped second seed Novak Djokovic's stunning 41-match winning streak in the new season, on Friday after earning a hard-fought win in four sets 7-6 (5) 6-3 3-6 7-6 (5) and set up a dream final with top-seed Rafael Nadal. With this victory, Federer also stopped Novak to equal John McEnroe's 1984 record of 42 matches unbeaten.

Federer did the impossible, as Djokovic was looking unstoppable with his current form. The Swiss Ace worked his strokes and serves to unimaginable angles and earned this victory in 3 hours and 39 minutes. Federer was quick to take the first two sets and as expected, Djokovic replied by snatching the third. Federer refused to let go off his serve as he kept coming back to Djokovic. The Swiss got 65% of first serves in, smacked massive 18 aces and crafted 48 winners to win this blockbuster duel.

After 70 minutes of rigorous battle, Federer clinched the first-set. Both the players exchanged breaks early on and once again, Federer proved why he is such a giant to beat in tie-breakers. The Swiss ace fired 4 aces, hammered 23 winners and won 49 points in total to win the first set. Well, Djokovic had his share of dominance in first set, but the Serbian failed to capitalize on those.

 The trend continued in the second-set. Federer took 45 minutes to win the second-set. Finally, Federer managed to convert sixth set point in the second-set. It was tremendous serving from Federer in the second-set, as he fired 5 aces and earned 81% points on his first serve. Federer hammered 15 winners as compared to Djokovic's 5 and converted 1 out of 12 break points. Djokovic had only 2 break points in the second-set. Djokovic bounced back in the third set and took only 37 minutes to win it. Djokovic brought in his A-game at the right time in the third set, as he fired 7 winners and converted the vital 1 out of 3 break points. Federer did not have any break point in the third set.

Both the players exchanged breaks in the fourth set, before it reached the tie-breaker, which was won by Federer. In the final Federer will take on Nadal, who once again handled the Scot Andy Murray very well and earned a comprehensive straight sets 6-4 7-5 6-4 win over him to reach the final of the 2011 French Open.

World number three Federer, whose last Grand Slam final had been at the 2010 Australian Open where he wrapped up a 16th major title, sealed a memorable win with his 18th ace.

Having reached his sixth Roland Garros semi-final playing a carefree brand of no-pressure tennis, he also left Djokovic one win short of matching John McEnroe's 1984 record of a 42-match unbeaten start to a season.

"I had nerves and this wasn't even the final," said the 29-year-old Federer.

"I have worked a lot in my life and it's for these types of matches. It was certainly one of my greatest matches in an extraordinary atmosphere.

"It was probably the best match I have played this year. There were breaks, break backs. It's always intense when we play and I wanted to make it as physical as I could."

Djokovic said that Federer was a deserving winner.

"All credit to him. He went for his shots, but there are no regrets for me. He deserved to win. We were part of a very good match," said Djokovic, who hadn't played since Sunday after his quarter-final opponent Fabio Fognini retired.

"But I had a great tournament. It's been the best five months of my career and I knew it had to end some time. This is sport."

Federer's dominance was illustrated by the statistics with 18 aces and being able to carve out 25 break chances.

In an enthralling conclusion to the fourth set, Djokovic had the chance to serve to level the match at 5-4, but Federer broke back and then fought off two break points to nip ahead at 6-5 before Djokovic held for a tie break.

For Murray, seeded four, his feisty performance was a fitting way to end a brave campaign that saw him battle through illness, a twisted ankle and a broken tooth as he continued his quest for a first Grand Slam title.

His only regret could be only converting three of the 18 break points he had on the Nadal serve.

"Andy is a fantastic player. He deserves to win a Grand Slam very soon," said Nadal.

"I saved a lot of break points at important moments. The conditions were not easy with the wind changing a lot."

Nadal went into the match as a strong favourite having taken his record at Roland Garros to 43-1 with an impressive straight sets quarter-final victory over Robin Soderling, the only man to have beaten him here.

Murray was playing his first French Open semi-final in his fifth campaign in Paris and he had lingering doubts over the right ankle he turned in his third round defeat of Michael Berrer.

"It was a very close match, there wasn't too much in it," said Murray.

"I had a lot of break point opportunities, but Rafa played well at those moments. Some of them I didn't play that well.

"I'm happy with the way I played but I still have a ways to go to be as good as him on clay.

"I look forward to that next year, but I now have got to look for ways of beating Roger and Novak and him on grass."

Roger Federer will get the chance to challenge for yet another Slam title, as he takes on Rafael Nadal in what promises to be one of the most exhilarating French Open finals of all time. Federer entered this tournament as an outsider in many senses, as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were being touted as the main contenders. That said, the world No. 3 has been in inspired form, and dropped just one set en route to the final.
Nadal will have seen Federer’s performance against Djokovic, and will be well aware that the Swiss legend is showing more than just a few glimpses of the form that enabled him to break so many records. The Spaniard has been producing some great tennis himself though, and outlined his title credentials with straight set wins against Robin Soderling and Andy Murray. Nadal may have been eager to play down his chances earlier in the week, but he clearly has a big opportunity here.
Nadal enters this match with a 16-8 head to head record against Federer, and has won his last seven matches against him on clay. The world No. 1 is arguably the favourite, but Federer’s form over the past 2 weeks has been superb. This contest could go either way, and has all the makings of a classic.